Physical therapy and massage therapy are well known and effective methods of treatment of a variety of medical conditions. During therapy sessions, a care provider may apply carefully controlled pressure to precise locations throughout the body using a variety of methods. One such method may use mechanical devices to apply pressure to those locations desired by a care provider. Another method may be the manual application of pressure using the hands of the care provider. Frequently application of pressure by hand is the preferred method of providing treatment due to more consistent feedback between the hand of the care provider and the patient's body. This is in contrast to the use of a mechanical device where the introduction of the device may attenuate the care provider's ability to judge the amount of pressure applied to a patient.
Care providers may frequently be required to care for a large number of patients over the course of a normal workweek. As a care provider may spend an hour or more with each patient, the result may be that the care provider is required to spend several hours every week applying pressure with his or her hands. Unfortunately, such repeated applications of pressure may result in injury to the hand of the care provider including, but not limited to, arthritis, tendinitis, or joint swelling. Such injuries are commonly referred to as repetitive stress injuries and may result in pain and loss of strength in the injured portion of the body. Should a care provider develop such an injury, the result may be the care provider's being unable to provide treatment to his or her patients and, and in some circumstances, becoming patients themselves.
As was noted above, the therapy provided by a care provider may require the application of carefully controlled pressure to specific points on the body of the patient. Others have disclosed various methods of applying splints and pressure devices to the hands of a care provider (see U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,732,142 and 6,669,657). However, these devices do not provide the precision and flexibility necessary to effectively treat patients using deep tissue massage therapy. What is needed is an apparatus for accurately applying hand pressure to a patient that aids in the prevention of repetitive motion injuries to the care provider.
In an embodiment of the invention, a glove may be employed to attach shapes (referred to herein as “massage elements”) to various locations on the hand of a care provider where the shapes are designed to provide pressure to the desired body locations. These massage elements may be constructed to provide varying levels of resiliency (for example, providing a soft, firm, or hard interface between the hand of the care provider and the body location to which pressure is to be applied). In certain embodiments of the invention, in addition to varying levels of resiliency and flexibility, these massage elements may vary in size and shape depending upon the intended level of pressure and location to which the pressure is to be applied.
Using massage elements may reduce the stresses applied to a care provider's hand during the provision of treatment to a patient. This reduction in stress may reduce the likelihood and severity of repetitive motion injuries to a care provider. In addition to the reduction of injuries, embodiments of the invention may enable the care provider to provide more effective treatment to a patient. For example, by using a massage element designed to enable a care provider to apply pressure to a specific area, that care provider may be able to deliver a more effective treatment than could be provided through the use of hand pressure alone.
In certain embodiments of the invention, one or more massage elements may be attached to the surface of a glove worn by a care provider. In other embodiments, the massage elements may be contained in pockets or other enclosures located on a glove worn by the care provider. In other embodiments, the massage elements may be attached to an inner surface of a glove worn by a care provider. Embodiments of the invention may employ massage elements that are affixed to the glove in a manner such that they are not ordinarily removable by a treatment provider. In other embodiments, the massage elements may be removable to allow a care provider to attach various massage elements to a glove during the course of a treatment or to facilitate cleaning of the elements or glove.